National Defence committee  Ms. Gallant, it's world-class. I've talked to many of the soldiers who have come home wounded—in fact the majority of them, either in Kandahar, in Landstuhl, Germany, or here across the country, depending on which hospital they've been in. To a person, they have been effusive in their compliments and praise for our Role 3 hospital at the Kandahar Airfield, which is a multinational hospital that's Canadian-led, with British, American, and Dutch physicians and physicians' assistants all sharing part of the burden.

National Defence committee  I would simply say, from a strictly military perspective, our mission remains the same--to help Afghans build a country of their own that they want in a democratic political process, with all the positive characteristics that can come from that, including removing the terrorists' base and increasing the security and stability for people who live there.

National Defence committee  That, sir, is a tough issue. It really is. And occasionally you don't get it 100% right, as we found out tragically when we had a platoon in a village handing out school supplies, trying to deal with a bunch of little kids who just wanted to get on with life. We had four of them killed because of the mission they were involved in that day.

National Defence committee  Mr. Hawn, I do recall: I've never sent such a memo. Not only that; I can categorically say that we don't have 1,200 to 1,600 troops. I just went through the greatly detailed process of what we're doing to make sure we can pragmatically, with common sense, handle the demands of the mission in Afghanistan, and that leaves no room for a significant mission elsewhere—at all.

National Defence committee  Mr. Chairman, do you mind if I say a word to that one? On the media side, I had a very specific prejudice, if you will, both good and bad.

National Defence committee  I was just crumpling up my recommendation to the minister for the deployment of F-18 fighters....

National Defence committee  But actually, I agree exactly with what the minister said. We have no need to make any recommendation to him on anything to do with aircraft. Sir, I'll come back to your question. Let me just say on the media that we have seen some very balanced coverage that talks about this complex mission and all the dynamics of it in an incredible way.

National Defence committee  Sir, I would say we're delighted with the Nyala vehicle. There are Canadians who are alive today who would not be if we did not have that vehicle. It's not a perfect vehicle, but no vehicle ever is. You always balance the advantages and the disadvantages for it. We have bought a sufficient number; we have more being delivered now.

National Defence committee  Sir, after having worked in Ottawa for the last two years, I'd volunteer to go back to Afghanistan anytime. It's less complex and less intense, and I'd probably enjoy it a whole bunch more. I'll tell you that truthfully.

National Defence committee  Let me say something, sir. First, our deployments are moving to condition-based, not strictly time-based, and we're doing a lot of work to make sure we get this right. Some of the deployments may be slightly longer. With those in senior command appointments, such as General Fraser, you simply cannot have a rapidly changing face.

National Defence committee  Minister, thank you. Mr. Hawn, I would say that the Afghan National Army commencement and development is a story that we now want to repeat with the Afghan National Police commencement and development. I know how difficult it is simply to change a small thing in an army or the Canadian Forces, let alone build something from a basic white paper.

National Defence committee  Ms. Gallant, I would be banned from the Armoured Corps--I am a cavalry officer--if I said the tanks were only a defensive weapon. They're there to help us achieve success in the mission of helping Afghans get enough security so they can rebuild their nation, and at the same time, to have that very valuable characteristic of lending greater protection in some of the very specific missions to the great Canadian soldiers who man them.

National Defence committee  It's an expensive round.

National Defence committee  I don't have the precise dollar figure at hand, but as the minister has said, we'll provide the minister the information on it.

National Defence committee  Could I just say that it's an expensive round because it's a precision round. Going back to the question you asked about making sure we're not driving people away from the government, etc., because of things like collateral damage, this is one of the things we want to precisely use against those who are bringing violence against us or against Afghans only, and therefore it's a very expensive round.